


Betsekai: Another World Where the Demon King Lives

by dosanjosgabriel



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-13 14:46:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29403588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dosanjosgabriel/pseuds/dosanjosgabriel





	Betsekai: Another World Where the Demon King Lives

Once again, the heroes were in front of the Throne Room doors. Once again, the battle for freedom and peace raged on the fields outside of the palace and through the wide windows that shaped the long hall. Moments before the final fight, there was no silence, no calm before the storm.

For years the group has been together, travelling around the world to step against the Demon King’s forces. Every land they’d step, trouble would be found. From small companies of goblins assaulting forest roads to tens of thousands of orcs armies, undead dragons and giants, they’ve seen it all. Together, they were able to help secure villages and won battles that will never be forgotten. They freed kingdoms and saved kings, queens and princesses.

And after all of what they’ve been through, it was here, right now, it should end. In a way or another, they needed one more win. One more miracle, so that the world could breath and recover. With their hearts beating like war drums, they took the enormous doors down and stepped into the ultimate battle.

With a magic word, the hundreds of years old Mage conjured an explosion spell and pointed his staff to the doors. His beard and hair moved rapidly with the wind created by the blast. His name was Hideki Oshika, known to be the oldest and strongest mage in all the world. He had served as right hand for dozens of kings in almost all the countries in the world. His magic wasn’t as strong as it was fifty years before this, but he still had knowledge that no other mage had. Hideki fought with honor and courage, never doubting his friends or running from a battle. He was known for his blue robes and long white beard, hair and eyebrows. His nose never stopped growing all those years and it would stick from his closed face. His eyes seemed like they were close all the time, but he could see clearly, with the help of his magic.

The Tank, a dark skinned, tall and strong human in her 40s, used her shield to protect the Hero and the Archer of any rebound or debris that could hit them. Her name was Yuka Marule, from the distant continent of Haath. Yuka was a single daughter and had lost both parents to the Demon King’s invasion in her village thirty years ago. She kept training with an ever-burning desire of defeating the killer of her parents. Although she never forgot this pain and kept a scar on her heart, she was always kind and loyal - even if people around would look at her with fear, because of her size and muscles. Yuka didn’t actually need it, but wore a full armor, with a closed helmet, a big shield and a claymore. Her armor was opaque silver and always full of scratches, torn and falling apart. She only really put effort in taking care of her shield, which was the only thing left from her village, after the Demon King attacked.

The Hero, a white skinned and brown hair human on the brink of his power, led the group. Hyoro was 25 years old when he reached the Demon King’s palace for the first time. After training with the previous strongest hero in the world, Hyoro kept a promise to defeat the Demon King and bring peace to the world. He was the holder of an ancient sword, passed by generations of heroes, which would enhance his powers to the limit. He preferred using light armor, focusing on reinforced bronze plates, leather patched clothing and light chainmail where needed.

The Archer was a female elf, blond, skinny and short in height, with pointy ears and green eyes. Her name was Shaella and she was 70 years old. “For an elf, that’s pretty young. I’m not old at all”, she would say with rancor in her voice, everytime someone mentioned the subject. She was one of the best archers in the elf’s kingdom and decided to accompany Hyoro and his group after they helped the elves take down the Demon King’s forces from their country. Legend says she had never missed a target in her life. Her bow was made out of the elven mythical tree that was the center of her kingdom. Its magical properties imbued the arrows with the user's powers, strengthening the damage caused and applying different characteristics when one wanted so. Shaella wore a dark green tunic that could cover her small body from head to feet, perfect for forest stealth missions.

The doors fell like bombs in a desert. When the dust settled, it was finally time to look directly into the Demon King’s eyes. He was sitting on his stone throne, on top of a cold staircase. Blood-Red banners with his black crest framed the scene from the ceiling. The wings and the horns were the symbol of so much pain and suffering for people all over the world. And still, here they were, proud, announcing its leader.

The Demon King sat quiet, his chin on the back of his hand, like this was nothing more than a small inconvenience. When the Hero stepped forward to face him, the Demon King smiled, scorn in his yellow, devilish eyes.

Before the Hero could grab his sword, the Mage touched his shoulder from behind. Something was odd in the air. Dark magic was taking place in this room. The Demon King finally moved, standing up and opening his arms.

“Welcome!”, he said on a grave, earthshaking voice. His teeth were as sharp as his claws and horns, his tongue long and biparted like of a snake. “I longed for this day to come. I’m finally able to crush your souls and destroy your dreams, heroes”. He finished his reverence crossing his left arm in front of his body and bowing, opening his wings to their full extent.

The Demon King’s skin was a dark and blueish gray, with small and black feathers on his arms. He was bigger than any human, with clearly strong arms, legs and tail. His horns were pitch black and shiny and the wings reflected light with an array of vibrant colors. He wore metal armor on his shoulders and chest, while his legs were protected by natural scales and thick fur. His long, straight and dark hair was covering his face now, almost touching the ground.

When the wings closed, the heroes could see three sets of eyes watching them from the Demon King’s shadows.

“Kill!”, commanded the Demon King.

With the sound of a word from their master, three creatures jumped out of their dark lair and into the Hero's way.

The creatures looked like harpies. Half birds, half humans, with wings, horns, claws and teeth ready to cut anything. The three sisters were known by every human on the planet. The Demon Princesses were conquerors and famous for devastating whole kingdoms by themselves. They flew at high speed directly into the Hero’s openings, no moment of hesitation and no time to react.

With a swift move and casting, the Mage was able to put up a magic barrier that withstood the first attack. The heroes didn’t even blinked. This was just another trap, just another surprise move. They were used to it and ready to give it back.

The Hero drew his sword and moved to face the oldest Princess. She had red skin and dark feathers and was known to be the strategic leader of the Demon King’s army. But the Mage stepped in and summoned a giant, thunder-wolf, to be her opponent.

The Tank wasted no time and jumped to the second Princess, using her shield as a weapon to pin her into a wall. The middle sister, with greenish skin and brown fur, smiled, no scratch in sight.

The Archer was not interested in the third Princess. She used the window of opportunity to fire three magic arrows at the Demon King himself. He didn’t move, as his youngest child immediately destroyed the arrows mid-flight, using her foot claws. Her skin was also blueish, like the Demon King’s, but her fur and feathers were shiny silver. She set her eyes onto the Archer and got ready to attack once more.

The Hero faced the Demon King from afar. He sat again on his throne and lacked interest in the fight. The Hero tightened his grip on his sword, maneuvered to a different angle, inhaled deep and calmly and exhaled slowly. He was used to controlling the pace of his heart. He felt his powers swirl from his chest and into the rest of his body. His eyes focused on an opening. Any opening. But, of course, the Demon King didn’t have any. Even without a battle stance, it was clear he had an astonishing experience in combat.

Behind the Hero, the fights raged on. His friends and the Princesses were practically tied in strength, resistance, stamina, speed and magic. The Hero couldn’t count on them for help. This was between him and the Demon King, now. The Hero heard Yuka screaming and turned his eyes to catch a quick glimpse of the situation. In that split second, he lost track of the Demon King’s position. When he looked back to the throne, the King was nowhere to be found.

With a suckerpunch to the back of Hyoro’s neck, the Demon King began his attack. The Hero was prepared, of course. He reinforced the region with a magical protection that prevented bigger damage.

“To a normal human, that punch would have probably been deadly. I need to take care of this quickly”, thought Hyoro, managing to escape two other blows from the Demon King.

Hyoro held his magical sword with both hands, while the Demon King flew in high speed around him, alternating places like he would teleport from point A to point B. The Hero closed his eyes and concentrated on his other senses, enhancing its capability of finding where the enemy was.

The Demon King was fast. Faster than anything else he had ever seen in the world. He could tear down whole armies and destroy a castle without breaking a sweat. But his physical abilities were matched by Hyoro. When he tried a fourth punch, the Hero was actually able to stop it with its bare hands.

“Oh… Now, this is a first”, the Demon King spoke, using his wings to gain momentum and launching Hyoro to the other side of the room with a tail slash. “But it will probably also be the last,'' he laughed.

Hyoro struck a wall to the side of the door they had destroyed. He felt both the tail hit on his guts and the wall collision at his back with a huge spike of pain. Even his physical conditions alone wouldn’t let him survive this fight. He could feel blood coming from within and coughed some of it. In front of him, his friends were also struggling with the Princesses.

Hideki, the Mage, was able to break one of the Red Harpy’s horns and she was pretty beat up already. But he was clearly almost out of mana and around 12 summons had been defeated so far. Hyoro could see explosion and barrier marks all around that side of the room.

Yuka, the Tank, was almost without any armor left. Her claymore was broken in half and her shield had a huge claw scar on it. The Green Harpy was missing an arm and bleeding profusely, red painting the ground and walls close to Yuka. The Princess eyes, thought, showed no fear at all.

Shaella, the Archer, was atop of the main chandelier, preparing three magical arrows on her bow. The Blue Harpy had several arrows stuck to her, mostly on her chest, the majority already broken. Lots more have been pulled or broken, probably by herself. Hyoro could see in Shaella’s eyes something he never thought was possible. Frustration. In the ground, an absurd amount of arrows were spiking the floor. She had missed them all. Although it looks like she was able to avoid any major damage, she only had so many arrows left.

The fact that Hyoro couldn’t help any of them was more painful than the Demon King’s attacks. His senses were ringing danger in his mind now. He knew another array of blows were coming. With his hands above him and a quick jump, he managed to avoid the first punch, dodging, using the upper part of the wall as a platform to land. He used gravity as a push for his movements to be effortless and quicker. He plunged the sword into the Demon King’s back, but he disappeared from his sight. Hyoro repositioned himself. Feet to the ground, back to the wall. Senses focused.

A scream to the right got his attention. Hideki used his last powers to summon something that looked like a giant octopus. It was finally able to subdue the Eldest Princess, crushing some bones in the process. Hideki fell to the ground, breathless, but his part was more than done. Before the harpy lost consciousness, she muttered something. Hyoro couldn’t truly grasp a word or definitive sound, but was able to read her lips. “Dai?”, he repeated, not knowing what it meant.

With the spoken word, the Demon King’s energy felt different. It… trembled, so to speak. This was important, Hyoro knew it. Without a second more to think, the Hero had to defend his left side, using this sword and arm as a shield, to avoid getting crushed by the Demon King’s kick. The move was empowered by dark fire and Hyoro had to cut off his shirt sleeve. His arm, thought, was broken.

The Demon King’s onslaught continued, now with magic pouring out of his every move. His speed, strength and destruction power were increased tenfold, at least. Hyoro couldn’t keep up anymore. The Hero took a full combo directly, without being able to actually defend himself. His sword escaped his grip and lied outside of his reach. The Demon King was more powerful than they had expected.

Now on the ground in the center of the room, breathing with difficulty, Hyoro looked for a way out. And Shaella fell just beside him, from the chandelier. She was exhausted, her fingertips bleeding, her arrow broken in half. Hyoro got closer to her, trying to hear her breath. She exhaled deeply, her lungs whistling, and the Hero got to hear a distant sound coming from within. “su… ke…”, she whispered. On the chandelier, the harpy Shaella was fighting against was pinned with a huge magical arrow, her eyes all white.

“Dai… suke?”, Hyoro questioned himself loud and clear. This again had an effect on the Demon King, which once more made him engage with a new wave of attacks. Hyoro kicked Shaella’s body to the side and used the movement to dodge the crushing blow. When the Demon King’s fist, empowered by dark magic, touched the ground, Hyoro could see its shock wave distorting the stones and opening a whole directly to the room below.

The Hero was launched up by the impact, which gave the Demon King the opening needed for a double-handed punch. Hyoro was able to defend using his good arm, but was thrown into the ground. Hard. Harder than ever before.

The Demon King wasted no time and got on top of him, face to face, sweat dripping from his skin. Hyoro hadn’t the time to even recover his air, even less to prepare for another attack. But then, something caught the Demon King’s attention. He looked back, fear finally appearing in his eyes.

Yuka was finally able to subdue her harpy enemy and was on top of the Princess’ back, holding her down to the ground with her body’s weight, with her arm around her head in a necktie. With her last breath, the harpy was only able to say a word. And it changed the fight completely.

The Demon King panicked, moving astoundingly fast to attack Yuka. Hyoro wasn’t able to hear whatever the green harpy said and wasn’t able to move to help the Tank. He could only watch as the Demon King advanced in what felt like slow motion, ready to kill his friend. Yuka found his eyes and repeated the word in a scream. The sound reached Hyoro’s ears faster than the Demon King could move by now.

“Amao”, Hyoro recorded the word, even though he couldn’t yet imagine the meaning of it. “Daisuke Amao”, the Hero spoke. And the Demon King stopped.

A purple enchantment circle appeared below the Demon King, putting him on his knees. He screamed and struggled, but his efforts were in vain. Hyoro sat and repeated the words once again. “Daisuke Amao!”. The circle of magical energy pulsed stronger and the Demon King reacted in sync.

“Don’t!”, the Demon King pledged, despair in his voice. “Shut your mouth already!”, he commanded. But Hyoro and the heroes were outside of his dominion.

“Daisuke Amao”, the Hero said the third time.

With a deafening scream, the Demon King’s arms, tail, wings and legs were tied by the magic circle. The purple energy pulled him into a portal, no chance to escape. This was his name, Hyoro understood afterwards. And whoever knew it could defeat him, as this were the conditions of an ancient curse.

Before Daisuke Amao could disappear completely, he spoke his last words, in a far more human tone than Hyoro imagined he was capable of. “I just want to see beyond all of this”, and the Demon King was no more.

Silence finally fell down on the heroes. Even the battle outside of the castle seemed to have ended. The world was at peace. They had won. A few seconds later, Hyoro was finally able to stand up and take care of his friends.

The harpies' bodies also started to vanish, turning into bits of dust and flowing by the air, through the windows, with no piece left.

THE END was written in bold letters on the screen. The sun had just risen and Halle could feel the weight of a sleepless night at her shoulders. She dropped the controller to the carpet at her room and cracked her neck twice. One to the left, one to the right. She woke up a little bit. Her fingers were numb and she had no idea of what hour it was. Outside her window, snow fell slowly. Her favorite kind of day.

She got up and threw her glasses to the side of the TV. Her lower back aching, not letting her stretch completely. She yawned with her mouth completely opened and did the same movement with her torso as she had just did with her neck, cracking up every single disc in her spine. Relief coursed through her body and sleep was finally able to dive inside her soul. This would be an amazing twelve hour night. Or day, in this case. Until she wakes up again.

Halle scratched her belly while walking towards the bathroom. The heater was finally picking up and able to actually heat the small apartment she rented with her parent’s money. She lit the restroom up and, looking at the mirror, she couldn’t care less about her hair, tied messily at the top of her head. “It does look like a bird's nest, to be honest”, she thought to herself, while grabbing her toothbrush and toothpaste. The ritual was quick and thoughtless. Brush teeth, water mouth, spill to sink, splash face, warm water, humid towel, lights out.

Before she could just fall into her bed, the TV screen grabbed Halle’s attention. She sat once more on the side of the bed, picked the controller from the ground and searched for her glasses.

“CONGRATULATIONS!!!” it read in bright white against a black background, the word pulsating with a tint of purple. “Would you like to accept the gift for beating the game for the 100th time?”, it said below.

She mindlessly clicked the button that said yes. A notification appeared on the top right of the screen. “Just another digital trophy”, she thought. Halle turned down both the video game and the TV, placing her glasses once again at its side. She finally did it. Although this last run ended differently from all the others, she was proud of herself. The feeling would last enough so she could sleep without the creeping self affirmation of uselessness hitting her, as it always does.

Today was Tuesday, March 12th, 2021. It felt like Sunday to her. And tomorrow will also effectively be Sunday. As everyday feels like Sunday since Halle quit her college and her half-time job. It was her first time finishing a JRPG game a hundredth time. It was snowing. And she would sleep without an alarm to wake her up.

On a rooftop, below the falling snow, a naked man formed, bit by bit, by magic, shiny, purple particles flowing through the air. It took what felt like ages for him to wake up from a slumber. The sun was setting and the night was coming.

He watched the strange horizon while standing up. He had never seen such a kingdom, nor imagined there was a whole civilization he didn’t know about on the north frozen lands. He looked down at his hand and he felt powerless. He felt warm, like a human does. He knew the feeling after killing so many of them.

The man looked down and, after landing on a small balcony, where strange pieces of clothing hung, frozen, saw his reflection on the window. He was a human. It felt awful.

Changing the perspective in his vision, he finally was able to see what was inside the house this window led to. Through the dark curtain, he could see a young woman sleeping. Her dark, brown hair was tied atop of her head. It looked like a small dragon’s nest.


End file.
